RIYADH: Moderate to heavy rain on Wednesday and into Thursday brought relief from high spring temperatures around the Kingdom.
Heavy overnight falls accompanied by thunder and lightning made for cooler conditions in Riyadh as Ramadan celebrations continued in the capital.
Saudi Arabia’s National Center of Meteorology has forecast mainly pleasant weather conditions in coming days.
However, the NCM forecast on Thursday said that moderate and torrential thunderstorms, accompanied by active winds, are expected for areas of the Najran, Jazan, Asir, Baha and Makkah regions, as well as some parts of the Eastern, Riyadh and Qassim regions.
Riyadh can expect cloudy conditions to continue until the weekend, with moderate to heavy rain accompanied by strong winds.
In the past 24 hours, from 9 a.m. on Wednesday to 9 a.m. on Thursday, Al-Thumama on the northern edge of Riyadh received the highest rainfall of 22.4 mm in the capital region. Al-Qaysumah, Hafar Al-Batin, received 33.8 mm, the highest in the Eastern Province, while Rafha received 16.3 mm, the highest in the Northern Borders region, and Al-Hinakiyah governorate received 21.8 mm, the highest in the Madinah region.
Heavy rain kept schools in some cities closed on Thursday, the last working day before the 10-day Eid Al-Fitr holiday in schools and government offices.
The NCM last week forecast moderate to heavy rain and sandstorms in most regions of Saudi Arabia from Sunday until the end of Ramadan.
Spring thunderstorms, accompanied by dust storms, were predicted from Monday to Thursday in the Qassim, Riyadh and Eastern Province regions, with light snowfall forecast in the Hail region and Northern Borders districts.
